Sheep Ranch

[John Kavanaugh]

Giving God credit is once again arrogant on your part..I don't know why you study the work of other men when you could simply stand in a random field and dream.  It seems only a means to justify your own implied superiority.

John,

If I'm coming across as arrogant or superior then I'm certainly not meaning to, nor do I feel that way.  

If I wasn't totally enthralled and amazed but what architects do and have done I certainly wouldn't have travelled hither and yon to see their work over the past 35 years.   It's certainly not because I'm particularly good at the game or athletically competitive or talented either, John.

I think you want to ascribe some impure motive to me John, to validate your impersonal impression of me as some type of golf course whore.  

Mike,

Surprisingly I don't think you are a course whore...I'm sorry but undertand why you would think that.  I am simply not a fan of critics if they haven't had success in the field themselves.  I don't get near as mad anymore on this site when people describe lost opportunities or failed potential...I'm used to it.  But for a leading critic of our day to say the course he most prefers over any course ever built is one that was not built at all...got my goat.  Truthfully, I think it was a hyperbolic lie...If you want to play cross country golf for eternity the Sheep Ranch isn't even in the same league as NGLA, or Cypress or my personal favorite ANGC.  I guess it is my fault for taking your opinions to heart..

[George Pazin]

John -

I think Mike is just showing his preference for variety. Given his fondness for playing new courses over ones he's already played, it's hardly surprising, especially when you couple it with the setting and the relative scarcity of golfers.

I still think you aren't giving Tom D his just due....

[rjsimper]

Cary - did you just play with your wife?

To me, I look forward to the competition aspect of it.  I too would get bored if I was just out there chopping a ball around, but give me a group of 4 (or more) guys and a stack of one dollar bills (or quarters) for a real-time pot skins game where the winner gets to point and say "okay that one from here" sounds like a pretty damn good time to me.

[DMoriarty]

Barney,

Talk about arrogance!  

You say the Sheep Ranch wasnt designed?  Of course it was designed.  One can design a golf course without moving a bunch of dirt.  To deny this is to withhold credit for some of our greatest courses and holes.  

You also say to Mike . . . "Do you have no more respect for any architect living or dead than to think your own little mind could entertain yourself better than one of them."  

This is not only condescending to Mike, but to Doak as well.  The course was designed so as to allow us into the creative process by choosing our own routings.

[John Kavanaugh]

John -

I think Mike is just showing his preference for variety. Given his fondness for playing new courses over ones he's already played, it's hardly surprising, especially when you couple it with the setting and the relative scarcity of golfers.

I still think you aren't giving Tom D his just due....

The Sheep Ranch is a failed model that will soon NLE.  Doak will get his due then..

I have another friend that parked a course on a piece of land that he new would soon be a major highway...Funny thing..the course became a huge success and he lost it to the public domain just as he wanted.  They new course just north will never be the original..

[Mike_Cirba]

Mike,

Surprisingly I don't think you are a course whore...I'm sorry but undertand why you would think that.  I am simply not a fan of critics if they haven't had success in the field themselves.  I don't get near as mad anymore on this site when people describe lost opportunities or failed potential...I'm used to it.  But for a leading critic of our day to say the course he most prefers over any course ever built is one that was not built at all...got my goat.  Truthfully, I think it was a hyperbolic lie...If you want to play cross country golf for eternity the Sheep Ranch isn't even in the same league as NGLA, or Cypress or my personal favorite ANGC.  I guess it is my fault for taking your opinions to heart..

John,

Then perhaps I'm not making myself clear at all because I never said it was the best course in the world because I'm not even sure how it compares to other courses.

I tried to explain that it was largely about the beautiful site, the primal nature of the experience, and as George said, the incredible variety, where there are something like 144 possible holes to choose from that also benefit from the variations in weather and wind.  

It's truly fascinating, John, and I wish you had seen it and played it because I think you'd feel much the same way.

As far as your comments about critics, I don't see myself as a critic.   Instead, I think I'm a customer, or perhaps a patron, and since golf is a consumer driven business as well as an art form, I will tell you what I honestly think about a given course and appreciate when others here do the same.

And yes, I can understand your irritation when someone espouses on something they can't actually do themselves, but if that's the measure we're going to use, then all of us are flaming hyprocrites in all sorts of arenas every day of our lives; not just about golf course architecture.

[George Pazin]

The Sheep Ranch is a failed model that will soon NLE.  Doak will get his due then..

To quote Dave M, talk about arrogance!

[John Kavanaugh]

Mike,

The day you accepted a free round for your opinion you lost your innocence...not that there is anything wrong with that.  Your opinions cost people their jobs, make their children go to lesser schools or not get that new pair of shoes...Quite the opposite role of a customer.

[cary lichtenstein]

Ryan

I did not play with my wife, I played with Bill McBride, a fellow GCA. We had no bet, but I do not need a bet to enjoy golf course architecture.

We just put the tee in the ground and played to various greens

Cary

[Mike_Cirba]

Mike,

The day you accepted a free round for your opinion you lost your innocence...not that there is anything wrong with that.  Your opinions cost people their jobs, make their children go to lesser schools or not get that new pair of shoes...Quite the opposite role of a customer.

John,

We're getting nowhere here.  I think the weight you ascribe to my opinion is completely absurd.

[John Kavanaugh]

I'm off to get cut...thanks for the laughs the last few years if I don't make it back....I love every single one of you guys..Even Golden.  see ya..ROTFWC

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I think most of us dream of building a personal course like the Sheep Ranch. I think Tom Doak did a wonderful job of green placement and design. I think Tom J and the guys did an equally good job of green design at the par 3 course too. It is a wonder to walk that land and play from point to point, wherever you desire. I do not like where it is heading now. It is being turned into a golf course which take saway from the purity of its intial feel. Like most great things, those who discover it today will love it and not care about where it came from. those of us who saw it at birth will always remember those as the best days but still like what is left.

[Jim Nugent]

I would put it in the top 5 or 6 courses in the U.S. I've played--I don't get around as much as you, Cary--and definitely one of my top handful of golf experiences.  

Tim -- do you consider it as good as or better than any of the other three Bandon courses?  What about Ballyneal?  

[Tim Pitner]

I would put it in the top 5 or 6 courses in the U.S. I've played--I don't get around as much as you, Cary--and definitely one of my top handful of golf experiences.  

Tim -- do you consider it as good as or better than any of the other three Bandon courses?  What about Ballyneal?  

Jim,

I can't say that it's better than the Bandon courses--it's too different.  The six courses I was thinking of were Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes, Bandon Trails, Sheep Ranch, Ballyneal and The Ocean Course at Kiawah.  

For an afternoon of golf with good friends, I couldn't ask for much more than Sheep Ranch.  I loved everything about it--meeting Denny Olsen in his pickup on the side of the road, teeing off with the whole course in front of you and the Pacific Ocean behind it . . . . If you want some structure, play the suggested "Bally Bandon" routing.  Purists may scoff but it would save you from thinking that you're just whacking a ball around in a field (I didn't have that feeling, btw).  

Some of the holes available there are outstanding and a lot of them are inland, away from the famous Green E.  For example, the green and bunkering just to the right of the first tee is awesome--we used it for a great long par 4 on the first nine and a cool par 5 as our hole 18.  

I'll be back (if it's still there).  

[Evan Fleisher]

Is the Sheep Ranch closed or being closed to make
way for course #4?  A friend just told me that it was...

Thanks,

As of July 4th you are wrong...it is still open...but things could have changed since then...

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

The sheep ranch is not course 4. that is next to Pacific Dunes. There is a story that it will be #5. I hope that is not true and it does not fit into the plan in place with the state.

[Tim Leahy]

Is there a charge to play the Sheep Ranch or do you just tip the guy who opens the gate? What do you usually tip? Can you use a pull cart out there?

[Tim Pitner]

Tim L,

There's a charge--$90 per person.  It's well worth it.  There are no pull carts or other facilities, except a bathroom (I think).  I'm sure you could bring your own pull cart.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

They charge either $75 or 80 now for the day.

[ed_getka]

Jim,
   SR isn't a golf course per se, it is more of a golf experience. I wouldn't put SR in my top 5 courses, but it can certainly fit in comfortably as one of the great golf experiences I have had. Golf at SR is essentially H-O-R-S-E (from basketball). You point to one of the greens and play to it.

Cary,
   You MUST drink on the course if you call SR flat. You don't have to think it is a great golf experience, but it is not flat and TD and crew didn't just cut holes in the ground, they found some cool greensites out there. You may not be able to appreciate them since they aren't mowed at resort speeds, but they certainly are not flat on the whole.

Tim L,
    You just pay the guy (Denny I believe is his name) or contact Bandon Golf Supply to make arrangements. There is no tip involved that I am aware of. You arrange what time to play and the gate is opened, and I believe I was told they try not to have more than 20 golfers on the property per day, but it sounds like most times it is 4-5 golfers.

Tom H,
   I can't believe you haven't been there. You need to get new friends.

For those who haven't been I wouldn't recommend SR as a place to spend a whole day. In our case it was leave early, drive all day from NorCal and then spend 4 hours in the evening in isolated bliss. That is a perfect way to warm up and get the kinks out before tackling the resort courses in the following days. As I pointed out above, do not expect to work on your putting stroke as the SR greens are on the shaggy side. Also, the course ISN'T open year round as it isn't a fully maintained course. It is definitely a step towards golf heaven.

[Yancey_Beamer]

The Sheep Ranch is closed in the summer as fairways are irrigated only with the rain. The course is generally open from October to June and these dates vary with the weather.

The price last year was $90.00 for all day.

Arrangements are made with Bandon Golf Supply
(541)347-1636.

I played the suggested Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch routing and used the card which outlines a 9 hole course.

I found the whole experience reminded me of the honor box courses in Scotland with the option of making up the holes as you go along.I enjoyed the SR very much and recommend playing this course when in Oregon.

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